The Board of Trustees, during their first in-person meeting since the pandemic, continued their heated exchanges, even after their redistricting controversy.
For the first portion of the meeting things ran smoothly with little evidence of squabbling as reports were given from union representatives to speaking about sabbaticals.
Further into the meeting, things picked up when Sunny Zia, trustee of Area 3, confronted president Mike Muñoz on an important letter from the Foundation which provides scholarships and support for students. She said the letter was withheld from her and “could have affected her decision.”
Trustee of area 2, Vivian Malauulu seconded her statement, but also used it as an opportunity to call out Zia over the same behavior. She suggested that policy be put in place to prevent this from happening again in the future while staring down Zia.
Trustee Malauulu could not be reached for a comment on the matter.
It was then that Zia accused the board of wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars on lawsuits including a current pending court case. When she made this comment though, there was confusion from the board on a current pending case.
Clarification on this matter was needed as the board itself recognized no current case.
“The court case was figurative, a ploy to make a show over the letter,” Zia said in response to the matter. “It’s baseless without merit. He [Uduak-Joe Ntuk] mocks women, his colleagues and those that disagree with him.”
This is not the first time such an accusation has been made by Zia and was even part of the grounds of a 2021 lawsuit against the city and port which tied in trustees Malauulu and Uduak-Joe Ntuk.
“The statement made by Ms. Zia is not true and does not reflect my behavior towards women, my colleagues or anyone else who would agree or disagree with me on any matter,” Ntuk said in response to the allegations made by Zia against him. “She has a habit of making false statements and unsubstantiated allegations against me and others.”
During the night’s commotion, Student Trustee Richard Blackmon was sitting silently and listening to everything play out.
“I have no feelings about the exchanges between Sunny and Joe and I think they were handled properly. They’re just passionate,” Blackmon said.
“Keep the political banter behind, I can’t speak on the issues between them but they shouldn’t be the focus with so much good progress being made for students.” he continued when asked if there was any change he’d like to see.
The board holds meetings on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month in the T-building on the Long Beach City College Liberal Arts Campus in room 1100 at 5:30pm.